Review of the Monterrey Consensus
Team: Carmelita Francois, Ivan Hall, Nada Kim, Verona Miyandi, Robina Singh
Semester: Fall 2007
The Financing for Development Office (FfDO) under DESA, working together with the Bretton Woods institutions and World Trade Organization and The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), will prepare official reports on each of the themes that will be informative and balanced, but not likely take positions that civil society would find adequate.
The New School Practicum in International Affairs was invited to form a student team to help the NGO community prepare a "shadow report" that includes the following components:
I. Prepare a "shadow report": analyze and summarize one of the six issues above from the following points of view (one issue per team):
A. How were the promised commitments in this chapter of the Monterrey Consensus implemented?
a.) What has already been achieved? b.) Which Monterrey achievements most need international political protection and support to further implementation or prevent rollback? c.) Which Monterrey-based initiatives whose implementation has lagged are most worth pushing for in 2008? d.) Which initiatives, if any, merit less attention now?
B. What is the current climate around this topic?
a) The view of governments (North and South)? b.) What is the World Bank and IMF's view on this topic (include WTO if on trade)? c.) What are the views of NGO partners in the South and North and people on the
ground? [Inequality is part of this question and might be the outcome and problem
area raised] d.) What are the views of academic specialists? e.) What are the views of the private sector as communicated in UN High-Level reviews
of FfD held in previous years? f.) What do the views from these various sources have in common and where do they diverge?
C. What should the Doha 2008 conference realistically aim to achieve in this area?
a.) Priorities for advocacy in light of A and B above (including what Monterrey initiatives that have lagged in implementation are most realizable with a political push?)
b.) Which commitments can we segment into a series of smaller steps to facilitate incremental progress? c.) What measurements would we propose to monitor progress towards achieving the goals of the Consensus?
d.) Which new issues of concern are coming up and most deserve active lobby work toward specific solutions? e.) What role could the UN play to resolve this problem area and promote financing for development topics? (Going beyond G8, systemic issues, global governance).
II. Recommend a lobby strategy that includes the following components:
A. Based on your research of the issue and working with the FfD NGO Committee, propose possible specific positions NGOs might advocate regarding your Monterrey "chapter".
a.) Prepare one or more background and position papers to propose possible specific positions NGOs might advocate regarding your Monterrey "chapter". Prioritize and recommend one or two promising positions for lobby work.
b.) Create with the FfD NGO Committee a one-page NGO statement for each proposal that the Committee might present at one of the UN PrepComs or other appropriate events and disseminate to the UN Missions and in the capitals of member governments.
c.) Recommend delegations to lobby based on criteria such as their ability to help the Committee reach its target audience, their interest in a proposal or position, their degree of influence, their receptivity, their opposition, their lack of resources to do the research themselves, or other criteria based on information gathered from statements by their delegations or home offices.
B. Draft a comprehensive lobby strategy on your topic a) Suggest side events to the FfD NGO Committee that could be held before and at DOHA 2008 with support from interested NGOs to advance consideration of the specific proposals. Side events are those organized outside the Official Sessions during lunch break or late evening sessions.
b) Suggest a strategy to encourage other NGOs working on the specific proposal to work together towards a joint comprehensive lobby initiative.
Core Documents
Terms of Reference
Timeline
Final Presentation
Additional Documents
2007 Fall - NGO Committee on FfD - Reviewing the Monterrey Consensus.pdf
Navigate: All Fall 2007 practicums